The Defense Ministry said that the Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...violated the ceasefire in 21 provinces and that 21 non-combatants were killed and 33 more were maimed in their attacks during the three days of Eid ( May 13 to 15).
But the Taliban has denied violating the ceasefire.
Abdul Zahir Atal, the police chief of Dawlatshah district in Laghman
...Afghan province with a population of about 445,600, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. During the invasions of Alexander the Great, the area was known as Lampaka, wich is apparently Olde Macedonian for
Laghman.The city of Mihtarlam serves as the bucolic capital of the province. The population is half Pashtun, the remainder Tadjik and Pashai. It had a repution for great wealth until it was conquered in the tenth century by Abu Mansur Sabuktigin.
He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing the idol-temples, he established Islam in them, He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolatrous and gratifying the Musulmans. After wounding and killing beyond all measure, his hands and those of his friends became cold in counting the value of the plundered property.After that it was mostly notable for the production of dirt, rocks, and holy men...
, died of wounds sustained in a clash with the Taliban in the province on Sunday, a local official said.
"Dawlatshah district has been faced with a tough security situation over the last seven months and there has been no attention to it," said Mohammad Farooq Watanyar, a resident of Laghman.
In Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
, meanwhile, Afghan forces launched operations on the outskirts of Lashkargah city and Nahre Saraj district in which at least 20 Taliban were killed, the Defense Ministry said.
"There are festivities in Nawa district. There were sporadic attacks on an outpost on the outskirts of Lashkargah city. Now, the fighting has escalated. We expected the ceasefire to continue," said Ataullah Afghan, head of the Helmand provincial council.
According to information provided by security agencies, 18 provinces witnessed ceasefire violations by the Taliban from May 13 to May 15.
But a Taliban front man denied violating the ceasefire but said that some bombs that were placed before the ceasefire detonated and caused casualties.
"The Taliban’s ’terrorist’ activities continued during the three days of ceasefire in which 21 civilians were martyred and 33 more were maimed," said Fawad Aman, a front man for the Ministry of Defense. "Their terrorist activities continued after the ceasefire."